Trump says Grenell to depart as Kennedy Center head

Richard Grenell will depart The Kennedy Center as President, Donald J. Trump announced on 13th March 2026.

Matt Floca, the current vice-president of operations at the center in Washington D.C., will replace Grenell subject to the board approval, U.S. President Trump said on his social media vehicle, Truth Social.

The announcement was made following numerous cancellations from artists and a decline in box office sales. It also came ahead of the planned temporary closure of The Kennedy Center from July 2026 for two-year renovations.

CNN reported Trump liked Grenell but got frustrated about his management at the centre and the negative press. The news media also said Grenell was not fired but he did not want to stay for the renovations.

Grenell, the longtime Republican foreign policy advisor, according to The Guardian newspaper, was appointed as the president of the traditionally by-partisan performing centre in February 2025.

Subsequently, Grenell oversaw drastic changes at the centre. In December 2025, Trump added his name to John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, renaming it The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

These moves led to a decline in ticket sales, donations and a slew of withdrawals from performing artists. Most notably, the Washington National Opera left The Kennedy Center, which had been the company's home for half a century, in January 2025.

On the ballet and dance front, Martha Graham Dance Company and San Francisco Ballet have cancelled their shows at The Kennedy Center this year, as well as Hamilton the musical.

The D.C.-based Washington Ballet is now performing Cinderella at The National Theatre in Washington D.C. in May 2026. The company originally scheduled to perform it at The Kennedy Center although it did not publicise the venue change as a pull-out.

As a background, Stephen Nakagawa, who was named as Director of Dance Programming in August last year, had been a dancer with Washington Ballet. Upon appointment, he wrote to Grenell that he was disgusted by the "rise of woke culture" in the company.